Scott M. Fulton III, 24th August 2006

Cupertino (CA) - It turns out Dell was not the only notebook computer manufacturer to whom certain Sony-made lithium ion batteries were supplied. This morning, Apple announced it is cooperating with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission in recalling batteries for an estimated 1.8 million iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 units, 700,000 of which are believed to have been sold in the US.

The recall may affect virtually all, if not all, portable Mac G4 units sold by Apple since October 2003. According to the CPSC, Apple received a total of nine complaints emerging from overheated batteries, two of which resulted in minor burn injuries, and others which caused minor property damage. So far, Apple is claiming no reports of explosions or the level of calamity on the level of those brought to light last week with regard to Dell, amateur video footage of which was featured as the top story on ABC's World News.

Press bulletins are characterizing this latest recall as the second largest in US history behind Dell's recall of 4.1 million units, though this claim has yet to be independently confirmed. The recall does not affect recently released, Intel-based MacBook and MacBook Pro units.